FOLLOWING a sell-out show at the HMV Picture House at last year’s Fringe, Scottish Opera returns with a Company Chordelia co-production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s gritty take on 1930s dustbowl America, The Seven Deadly Sins.
The faded glamour of Edinburgh’s HMV Picture House, with its art deco surrounds and intimate cabaret-style seating, provides the perfect backdrop for this production, which is set in a 1930s film studio. In keeping with the style of the show, it will also transfer for a run at O2 ABC Glasgow.
Often described as a ‘sung ballet’ or ‘danced opera’, The Seven Deadly Sins makes the perfect collaboration piece for Scottish Opera and Company Chordelia.
It tells the tale of soprano Anna I and her dancer alter ego, Anna II. Setting out with the good intention of making money to build their impoverished family a home, they’re soon thrust into the seedier side of down-and-out Depression-era America with one of the seven deadly sins tempting them in each town they visit.
Written by Weill for his then estranged wife, singer Lotte Lenya, the mirror-image plotline (Anna I and Anna II) was born when the millionaire commissioning the piece noticed the striking resemblance his ballerina wife bore to Lenya, and wrote a clause into the contract ordering she should dance opposite her lookalike in the main role.
The Orchestra of Scottish Opera plays Weill’s score in a full orchestration that mixes brass, banjo, barbershop, jazz and classical. Jessica Cottis, currently Assistant Conductor at the BBC SSO, will conduct, making her Scottish Opera debut.
With director Kally Lloyd-Jones comes a wealth of experience in the worlds of opera and dance. Previous directing credits for Scottish Opera include 2009/10’s Katya Kabanova, with choreography credits for numerous productions including Five:15 Operas Made In Scotland, La bohème, The Secret Marriage, The Marriage of Figaro and Rigoletto. She is the founder and artistic director of Company Chordelia, which has been performing original dance work to critical acclaim throughout Scotland since 2002.
Former Scottish Opera Emerging Artist, and rising operatic star, Nadine Livingston (Susanna, The Marriage of Figaro 2010, Gilda Rigoletto 2011) returns to the HMV Picturehouse and Edinburgh Festival Fringe after her part in 2010’s collaboration with Club Noir, to sing Anna I.
Dancer Kirsty Pollock, also no stranger to the Fringe after dancing her first major role with Company Chordelia in The Red Rooms there, becomes Anna II. David Morrison – a familiar face to Scottish Opera audiences with roles spanning 20 years including parts in Intermezzo (2011), Manon (2009) and Tosca (2004) – takes on the ‘skirt role’ of Mother.
The Seven Deadly Sins is sung in English.
CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM
Singers
Anna I Nadine Livingstone Conductor Jessica Cottis
Brother Damian Thantrey Director/Choreographer Kally Lloyd-Jones
Mother David Morrison Designer Janis Hart
Father Iain Paton Lighting Grahame Gardner
Brother Peter Van Hulle
Dancers
Anna II Kirsty Pollock
Male Roles Peter Baldwin
Actor Nicole Owens
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
HMV Picture House Edinburgh
Mon 29 Aug, 9pm
Sat 3 Sep, 7pm & 9pm
O2 ABC Glasgow
Wed 31 Aug, 9pm
Thu 1 Sep, 9pm
Running time approximately 40 mins
Tickets on sale:
www.edfringe.com
www.hmvpicturehouse.co.uk
o2abcglasgow.co.uk.
-ENDS-
www.scottishopera.org.uk
For additional press details, images and interview requests, please contact:
Kerryn Hurley, Press Manager, 0141 242 0511, kerryn.hurley@scottishopera.org.uk
Emma York, Press Officer, 0141 242 0552, emma.york@scottishopera.org.uk
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Contact: Emma York
Phone: 0141 242 0552
Email: emma.york@scottishopera.org.uk
Website: http://www.scottishopera.org.uk
